


"Heroes Park, One Year Later: Interview with a Metahuman." (L. Lane, Metropolis Journal, 3 March 2017)

by Apricot



Category: DC Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Interviews, One Year Later, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apricot/pseuds/Apricot
Summary: The dust hasn’t settled over Heroes Park.





	"Heroes Park, One Year Later: Interview with a Metahuman." (L. Lane, Metropolis Journal, 3 March 2017)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/gifts).



**Heroes Park, One Year Later: Interview with a Metahuman.**

Lois Lane, Guest Reporter for  _The Metropolis Journal_

Published: 3 March 2017

 

A year later, the dust hasn’t settled over Heroes Park.

Construction rigs block off sidewalks and jut up into the Metropolis skyline as the city scrapes and shovels away the rubble from one end of the street, while even more crews work to rebuild on cleared concrete a block away. According to the aftermath report at Metropolis City Hall, the estimated damage to the city has been about $255 billion. Historically, that’s cheaper than the damage toll from what’s now known as the Black Zero Event, which experts estimated a bill of about $750 billion. The death toll, too, is modest in comparison. According to the Black Zero Event Report filed by FEMA, over 129,000 people were killed and almost a million reported injuries.

The toll for the Doomsday Event, however? Despite its moniker, it famously only had one casualty: the Man of Steel.

The streets around Heroes Park pays homage to that. Where the larger-than-life statue of Superman once took center-stage, his memorial now stands. His sigil can be found graffitied on brick, posted up in windows, and sold on t-shirts. The anniversary of Superman’s death is in a few days, and Metropolis Mayor Buck Sackett has already declared a week of mourning in Metropolis, to culminate with a remembrance ceremony next Sunday. It almost feels like a strange gesture, for a city that really hasn’t stopped.

The woman who arranged to meet me here today chose the spot. She’s unassuming in a brown coat, her hair pulled strictly back, but when I see her, she smiles. She didn’t know Superman very well, she told me initially, but what she did know, she wanted discuss. It’s the kind of call I at least once a week at the Daily Planet, and usually ignore.

“He died bravely,” she said, during that phone call. “I was honored have fought beside him.”

I made the arrangements to meet her the next day.

We sit at one of the few restaurants that’s stubbornly remained open, behind several concrete barriers to protect from construction debris. Before the Doomsday Event, it was a popular location for casual business lunches. Now, only a few dedicated locals stake out tables.

The woman-- who identifies herself as Diana only, adding that any last name she could give would only be an alias-- is already sitting in the corner.

“They’ve done remarkable work,” she says. She’s been watching the construction for a few hours, she says. “I never cease to admire how people can rebuild after devastation. The way that people pull together.”

Apparently, she’s seen her share of reconstruction. Diana says she wasn’t present for the Black Zero Event, but she heard of the devastation over the news. It was what brought her attention to Metropolis in the first place. And brought her close enough to assist with the battle against Doomsday, the genetically-modified Kryptonian that was allegedly the product of illegal genetic crossbreeding experiment under LexCorp.

Details regarding the Doomsday Event remain murky, with only bare facts released through the Department of Defense and unsubstantiated interviews by alleged eyewitnesses. A few commonalities emerge in those accounts: it began with an altercation, between the Gotham Bat and Superman. At some point, that fight was interrupted by the appearance of metahuman Doomsday. Some reports put a third person at the fight, but were unconfirmed. Until now.

“I knew that I had to help,” Diana says. “I wish I could have done more.”

What exactly she did do, again, varies by different accounts. Some reports put a second Kryptonian at the battle-- one to match Superman’s strength and skills. Another unconfirmed report advised that she is the product of more alleged LexCorp experimentation. The Department of Defense fielded questions and theories about possible enhanced human soldiers designed to challenge the metahuman phenomenon-- all met with firm denials.

Diana laughs at these theories, politely.

“I have trained as a warrior, and I did what I was trained to do,” she says. “I fought against the creature Doomsday. We were able to stop him.” She smiles, but this one doesn’t reach her eyes. “But at a cost.”

But where did she come from, if she wasn’t like Superman?

“I am from this Earth,” she says. “A place called Themyscira. And I’ve been here much longer than your Man of Steel.”

How long, exactly?

She evades this question, and any other direct line that may pinpoint her current home city or alias. Her birthplace will be unfamiliar to most people, she says-- and the research confirms it, not finding a trace of any place called Themyscira in the modern world.

“Where I am from doesn’t matter as much as where I am now,” she says. Her aim is more to let people know about the Man of Steel and his fight to protect the people of this planet. And to let them know that she is here to help carry on that mission.

It’s an interesting message, since it indirectly acknowledges that the Earth may need further protection, despite the fact that all LexCorp R&D projects are now under federal investigation and temporarily, if not permanently, halted. Does she have knowledge of another Kryptonian attack? Or other metahumans who might be a threat?

“People will need protection,” she says, looking out at the street again, but this time her eyes aren’t on the construction projects, but on the people on the street. She does not say if she will be remaining in Metropolis or trying to fill the hole left in the national psyche by the death of the Man of Steel. One thing she does make clear: she doesn’t plan on starting her own clandestine war on crime like Gotham’s most famous vigilante.

“I think we all have our paths,” she says. “We all must do what we can to help. It will take more than just me, or the Batman.”

She doesn’t seem as comfortable with that topic as her opinions on Superman’s sacrifice.

“We have all had to make our own way,” she says. “And this world can be...cruel. It can be devastating. As this city has found and as I learned long ago.”

Batman and his  tactics have been the subject of hot debate in recent years, although coverage has fallen now that the vigilante has fallen out of the public eye. There hasn’t been a documented sighting of the Batman since the Doomsday Event. Many speculated that he may have perished in the battle as well. Diana hint that he may have survived, even though she does not confirm it.

“I doubt he would want me to say one way or the other," she says, a little wryly. Her smile fades after a moment. "We are all trying to find ways to do better. I have seen the world change, for the good and for the bad. And now, we have to do better than we did before. We all will have to.” Superman, she says, believed people to be good at heart. And while there was plenty of evidence of humanity’s cruelty, there was also those that sought to bring light into darkness.

“There are those with hope. And I...I have hope for the people of this place, and of this world. I would fight for that. I would honor his sacrifice.”

If the Earth is still under threat, it seems hope will still be needed. As well as people willing to fight. What advice would she give to a world made increasingly uncertain by a metahuman presence that many still don't understand? Should the world expect more men like Superman, or like Doomsday?

"I think everyone is capable of both good and evil," she says. "There are always those who seek to harm, to hurt, to destroy, to war. And there are those who want to protect, and to make the world better than it is. It's important to remember that there are always the people in the world who would change it for the better."

She has learned a lot about men from reviewing our histories, she says. Mankind has presses forward year after year, sometimes stumbling, sometimes slowing. Sometimes it feels as though all your strength must be spent just staying in one place, she adds, with that same far away look. "But you cannot falter."

And what if someone does?

"That is why we must fight together," Diana says. "All of us. All of humanity. If one of us falters, your neighbor will carry that burden until you can take it up again."

Her gaze travels back from the people on the street, and the cloudy smoke and faint rattle of construction, to the present moment. During our conversation, the wind has picked up, and we can both see the flag over City Hall lowered half mast, per the mayor's order. From this distance, the flag looks like a blur of red and white-- like a cape, waving strong against the sky. “I’m very sorry for your loss."

For the loss to the world.

“Yes,” she says. “That too.”


End file.
